


Nightly Trials

by mythicalmonstrosity



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: 17th Century, Alternate Universe - Renaissance, Angst, Curses, Dark Magic, Death, Demons, Drama, Heartless (Kingdom Hearts) - Freeform, Humans, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Master Xemnas uwu, Minor shipping, Monsters, Multi, Other, Rituals, Small village, Undead, Vampire Hunter, Vampires, Village life, Violence, Werewolves, Witchcraft, character death (kinda not really), karmians kh creature au, monster au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-22 19:28:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16604096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mythicalmonstrosity/pseuds/mythicalmonstrosity
Summary: In a small village surrounded by creatures and curses unholy, you get to see the tragic stories of these characters unfold.Best friends torn apart in youth experience what it's like to live as the creatures they've been warned about their whole lives, and maybe they'll find each other again?Only time will tell.





	1. Youth

The huge shining sun shone brightly across the neat village of Trustonworthe, dawning a new day for men and women alike. Travellers and workers being the only ones awake at such a time, digging in fields for harvest and working and building up houses for more welcome citizens to arrive. Carts and carriages wheeled through the town every morning, goods and services often exchanged to influence trading amongst villages alike. The town was spacious and bland at first sight but held too many secrets to count, almost like the land was cursed. Creatures unholy preyed on the village long ago and luckily, they've died down over the years.  
Talented hunters shown suspicious, but they protected the townsfolk. Dark twists of a legend were ensued, claiming those "hunters" as demons who'd drag down their kind to hell where they came. Children's tales were always spread amongst the village for decades on end, taking us to a new generation of children.

When safety was ensured a young slim boy, hair as red as a blooming rose and a fierce emerald green gaze took residence in Trustonworthe, along with another... A blunette with the same shining green gaze.  
Born almost around the same time, they were young and clueless to what happened decades before. Or, the fact that creatures were undercover as humans nor the monster hunters that protected their beloved home. 

The redhead and blunette lived merely two huts away from each other and engaged in mischievous activities, causing a ruckus and earning them mild popularity within the western side of their village. 

Lea, the firey redhead, often scared the younger children with made up stories of ghouls and ghosts, haunted woods and possessed adults with shining amber eyes that could swallow you whole. Meanwhile Isa, the blunette, couldn't be bothered with folklore and made up stories, his beliefs spoke otherwise. He took a strong liking to common sense and all things logical. Isa was one to confort the children during Lea's story times and possessed the more responsible role in their strange friendship.  
He lived alone with his father and often worked in a barn just above their village, slaves and volunteers helped them with controlling majority of Trustonworthe's agriculture as they'd grow necessary crops for them to make decent munny off of. Isa grew up learning how to take care of himself and therefore, helps Lea with keeping his ambition under control. 

Lea was raised in a small home with his Ma, Pa and little sister, Athena. They'd lived a quiet life, but thanks to Lea's outlook and undying curiosity, he was the source of chaos in his household. His playful nature charmed Isa in ways he didn't even know, causing him to be stuck beside Lea and accompany him during all of his "adventures".

 

At this time they were teenagers, living through life of a provincial village and Lea was following along with Isa while he ran his errands.  
Earlier that day Isa's father, Pence, told him to make a trip to the shopping plaza and of course, he promptly did what he was told. 

The couple walked along the side of packed down gravel roads and each carried a brown leather satchel bag underneath their arms.  
They walked at an even pace and chatted about most typical topics of discussion. How the weather was, what was new in town, little sibling shenanigans, etc etc. 

The conversation was paused once the redhead fixed his gaze on men and women of all shapes and sizes collected at one of the entrances of Trustonworthe, he stopped in his tracks and pulled the blunette by his sleeve to make him stop with him. 

"Hey..." Lea said, Isa sighed and stepped to him.  
"What is it? We have to get a few more things..." 

Lea's eyes were glued to the crowd of people that his response was delayed, Isa too, turned his head to stare. He filled in the other's distracted silence and answered the question that was most definitely on the redhead's mind. 

"I don't know what's going on, now let's go." 

Impatiently, Isa pulled the fabric of his shirt out of the grasp of the other boy and continued to walk. 

"Before I leave you behind." 

Isa's words tugged on him in a way that he took a couple steps forward, but his curiosity was too unbearable. It was weird and unusual to say the least to see some kind of sudden event show up on a Sunday afternoon. He had to check it out, maybe the guardians have appeared somewhere close again?  
Lea tightened the satchel around his torso and went to investigate.  
Isa, who turned around to see him taking off, stammered and chased after him. 

"Lea!" He exclaimed, "Pa is going to get mad! He wanted us back before-"  
Just like that, the other boy was out of sight and lost in the crowd. Isa stopped and facepalmed with sheer irritation.  
"What am I going to do with you..." He sighed. 

Lea barged into the swarm of people and snuck to get to see what all the commotion was about, to his discretion, it was a man with his small family of only his wife and a single child.  
The mother was cowering beside a carriage full of barrels with the child in her arms, holding the poor things face in her chest and watching the father with intent.  
A glint of horror remained in her eyes when the man was shouting to the townsfolk a warning. 

"It- It was HUGE!" the man shouted, "And it attacked me with giant long teeth and it destroyed my home!"  
Looks of doubt were scattered here and there across the citizens faces, while others gave looks of fear and even deep hatred. A young man from the crowd asked further questions and the shaken up father gladly answered. 

"It was a giant furry creature, it sounded like it... It barked? I-I don't know! But either way, we need to hunt it down!" 

It barked? Lea repeated in his head. Does that mean--? 

The boy hid a smile and scoffed quietly to himself. The stories of giant beasts and cannibals weren't entirely made up after all, he'd heard real stories and memories from some of the town's elders and often used them to his advantage. 

"Poor fool doesn't know what a werewolf is..." Men and women objected to the petrified man in disbelief, but some quivered in fear and sat stilled in silence. It wasn't until now that Lea saw that the man's legs were wounded terribly from the ankle up to his mid-thigh, brown pants tattered and stained with dried blood. Lea imagined the cause of those nasty gashes and smiled more, odd creatures impressed the teen with no end. 

Suddenly, the boys shoulder was grabbed and shaken and it made Lea jolt.  
"What is going on?" A familiar voice asked, the redhead turned around an prodded a frustrated looking Isa away from him.  
"Don't scare me! And this man might've seen a werewolf!"

Isa crossed his arms and gave a disapproved look saying, "A werewolf? Now that's just ridiculous."  
Looking away, he pondered. Werewolves were just made up creatures by freaks who had too much time on their hands, for all Lea knew he could've just been attacked by a regular wolf or even a bear. Lea boasted and objected almost instantly, strongly believing and pouting childishly.  
"Ridiculous? Bull! Look at those marks on his legs, and everything he's saying?" He pointed to middle of the crowd of townsfolk where most attention was turned to, but people gradually started to leave until the man was left alone groveling on the dirt floor. 

"Lea..." Isa sighed. "He's probably lying to make us give him munny. Now let's go." Clasping the other's hand, Isa pulled the redhead along with him. Endless objections left him but Isa knew how to ignore them, but he had yet to find a way to shut him up.  
After a few feet of walking their fingers intertwined and Lea's face coloured with a light blush, opening his mouth to complain some more. 

"I don't want to hear it." The blunette interrupted, head fixed forward to pay attention where they were going. Truth was, he was hiding a small blush of his own.


	2. Boy Missing

It was later in the day and the sun was setting behind the hills once the boys were done with their shopping spree, they had parted ways and spent the rest of their evenings at home. But for Isa, he wasn't exactly home. 

He was alongside his father inside a wagon the boy's father owned. The inside was crowded with familiar workers he had met before, them always referring to Isa as the "bosses kid" or simply, "boy". It was a shame they never even put in the effort to learn his name. 

Isa was perched beside his father, who was at the front guiding the horses uphill to their barn that sat above their beloved village.   
Trails of trees and fields were passed along the short trip there, and Isa was one of the first to jump off and run inside to see the animals that were housed for most of the day. 

Orders were barked behind him while he swung open the barn doors to greet the few horses the Creasur family owned. He always gifted them with fresh fruit from the orchard just outside the barn walls, them happily accepting it along with the affection he gave.   
But when he grew distracted by being blinded by rays of sunlight, through the drafters, he went outside to watch the sun fall behind the grassy hills beyond his village. 

He hummed softly and looked down at his feet for a moment, breathing in the fresh air around him and wondering about his best friend... Surely Lea is somewhere also watching this view? 

Men spread around the Creasur land and went to their work, meanwhile Isa was called by his father. Bowing his head in respect once walking over, he was ordered to fetch pails of water while his father and two other burly men were trying to plant yet another apple tree nearby. 

Isa humbly obeyed and took two pails in his grasp, grazing through flattened grass around the big building. Behind lay a small clearing that lay vacant, grass hardly treated with the exception of boards flattening the grass to make a small path to the woods that laid beyond. 

Isa could recall this area being taken care of and visited often in his youth, and often with Lea and another friend by the name of Apollo.   
The three dwelled in the wood beyond his father's barn so often, the biggest tree they found was marked with each one's initials with Lea's "handy dandy" pocket knife. 

He approached the tree with caution for snakes once setting the buckets beside the simplistic, moss-covered stone well. A smile crossed his lips upon seeing how deep the initials were, still proudly marking the territory as theirs. Once cleaned up again, this would make an excellent reading spot to the blunette. 

He went on his way to fetch the water as said by his father, nearly tripping on tree roots and falling into the tree trunk itself. Leaves swayed down and softly fell to the earthy floor with the sheer force of his fall, but suddenly twigs and leaves crumpled and snapped in the distance.   
Isa wasn't one to be afraid of what lie in the wood, but his curiosity peaked and his head turned to where the noise came. He took quiet hesitant steps, the dim of the thick wood shading over him and causing the young man's eyes to dilate. 

Moments of silence took over, perhaps it was nothing to the blunette, he wondered. He merely gave a shrug and turned to return to his father. 

Steps were sounded in the thick braken once his back was turned and the young man's eyes widened. Whatever was out there was big... 

The steps of cracking logs and crunching leaves sounded faster and faster, all until Isa turned to yell, "Who's out there? Show yourself!" 

A deep raspy snarl replied to his voice, a dark furred creature leapt from the shadows with it's mouth hung open in a deep scowl. The sight of a row of sharp pointed caninelike teeth coated in saliva sent Isa running for his life, dropping full buckets of water while doing so.   
He took off without a thought, only knowing that he had to flee the scene before he was forcibly taken from it. 

A terrified yelp escaped his lungs and his uplifting foot was taken into the mouth of the menacing creature.   
Isa gasped when long fangs sunk into his calf, the sudden sting making a grunt of pain sound from him.   
Instinctively he reached for the nearest thing to bat away the monster, but once he finally got a branch in his arms the creature hand already started biting for more. 

The creature greedily chewed and swallowed at the blood and torn flesh of the boys leg, Isa turned and batted at it wildly while screaming in panic and desperately trying to rip from it's jaws. The branch he grabbed only moments before was now being stabbed into the monsters black eyes, causing it to let go and claw at the stick protruding from its eye socket. 

Isa saw the condition his legs were in and limped for safety, thighs and calves torn from long teeth, flesh and muscle shredded from the bone, so much that he almost hurled from just looking at it. Isa thought back to what Lea had said earlier that day, perhaps this was the werewolf that was seen nearby? His mind still warped in disbelief but he shook it off for the time being. He turned, eyeing the creature as it got up and roared infuriatingly. It got to it's haunches and scrabbled after him, Isa began to limp even faster.   
But alas, the creature came faster. 

The blunette was suddenly lifted off his feet by the massive canine with a strong pain in his torso, he was being taken away with the creatures thunderous leaps that could shake the earth floor. All the while the teenager was screaming and crying for help, he didn't want to go. This was the opposite of what he wished for this evening, and he couldn't help but call the names of those he cared about. 

The wolves teeth were sunk deeply into his shoulder and torso, leaving only but a free arm to attack and a bloodstained t-shirt.  
The wolf took speed deeper into the wilderness that Isa had yet to discover again, it sensed danger nearby and took off as if it were being chased by something. 

Isa could feel his heart beginning to beat out of his chest, his breathing shallowed and all he could see was the blurred, darkened environment around them. Warm breath of the monsters panting on him kept him awake for the most part, but eventually his free arm went limp once he submitted to the fate that was soon to come. The werewolf was most likely taking his body off somewhere to feed, treating him like a rabbit lost in the wilderness. The thought alone made the blunettes stomach churn uncomfortably, but he was too out of it to truly go into detail. His eyes closed and all went silent to him, all until a gunshot was sounded not too far from where he lay, limp. The wolf growled, it's deep rumble aching his sore body with more pain than he expected. The only thing Isa could recall before it all went black was the pained whine and cry of the wolves despise.

 

\-----------------------------------

 

Two bodies lay limp in the braken of the earth floor, each investigated by men and servants that carefully studied their bodies as each were stained with blood and dirtied with leaves and twigs tangling their hair and torn clothing.   
The smaller body of a young teen was rolled over with a man's leather steel toed boot, he was rolled belly up. Luckily, his chest was still slowly rising and falling with life still beating in the young man's chest. The man investigating called to the superior of the group, giving him the vital information of the boy still being alive. 

"Master, this one's still kickin'."

A tall, well built man with only the highest quality of fabrics and leather attire steadily came by, a hat covering his features all except the long locks of silver hair that covered his backside. A deep, charming voice replied coolly, "Well done, he's conditioned well enough to be taken into our care."

The large man's hat was removed and the masculine face of one of the beforetold guardians stared down at the unconscious blunette with an intrigued amber gaze.

"Lower calves marked with that of a werewolves teeth, he must be taken in and surveillanced." He continued, "Transformation isn't certain, but it is still a precaution. He may help with our unanswered questions... Gentleman, carry this one to my caravan." A gloved finger snapped to the servants nearby, ordering them closer to hear his order. 

Quiet murmurs of something along the lines of, "Yes Master, Yes Superior." were exchanged before they had disappeared and returned with a small cott. The unconscious boy was taken carefully to the Superiors caravan as told, meanwhile he stood along the baselines and watched as the other body was taken by the town's undertaker. No doubt the body was dead, with the trick of a silver bullet shot straight through the poor man's heart. 

The Superior hummed softly at the satisfaction of his night coming to a closing, having been tracking the monster for more than just a few hours. He deeply sighed and gestured to his men to leave the scene, adjusting the hat again on his head and turning to take his leave, leaving not a trace of his presence behind. 

 

\---------------------------

 

The shine of a new day woke up the firey redhead like any other day, him waking up in his room beside his younger sister. He rolled over with refusal of waking up, grumbling softly and rubbing his eyes. A yawn escaped his jaws and he slowly sat up with his normally spiked back hair pointing in all directions. 

The sound of voices was heard in the other side of their house and Lea slowly slid out of bed. Bare feet lightly padded across the floor boards as the teenager looked for something to wear. 

He groggily slipped into a pair of velvet shorts and a thin, simple shirt, remaining silent as to not wake up Athena who was still visibly snoozing in one of the two beds in their shared bedroom. Once getting dressed, he quietly opened the door and left to greet his mother and father in the other room. 

Upon walking into the main room of their small hut, Ma and Pa were seated at the kitchen table with Isa's father, each one having a devastated look in their eyes that Lea was quick to notice. His eyebrows furrowed with concern, meeting with his mother's gaze and quietly asking, "What's wrong?"

His mother then turned for the elder in the room to answer. Pence, Isa's father looked up in distraught, telling Isa's best friend the news and even asking him questions was something he'd looked forward to. Though he had a strict relationship with his son, he still loved the kid nonetheless. 

"It's Isa... He's missing." he answered. "Have you seen him? Did he say anything to you about leaving the last time you were together?" 

Lea's heart sank at the man's words, to think his friend he'd seen not too long ago was now considered missing. He hesitated to answer in fear of his voice cracking, replying softly, "No sir... How long has he been missing?"

"Since last night... He went to the well to fetch me some water and... Never came back. Went out lookin for him this morning, not a trace was found. Only the buckets he'd carried with him when doing as he was told." Pence's voice lowered, head hanging low and his fingers massaging his temples. 

"Perhaps... It was the creature we were warned about? By the elders." Lea's father said, all the while Lea's mother stood and left to bring in tea and bread for the small meeting in the dining room. 

"Who knows... All I know is that whoever is responsible isn't getting away without my led in their knee caps." Pence mumbled before thanking his mother for the drink, his throat was parched and that reflected in his scratchy tone. 

Lea's mind raced for an explanation behind Isa's absence, was the beforementioned creature responsible for what had happened to him? There wasn't any real reason as to why Isa could have disappeared so suddenly, he wasn't one to run away from home. 

He left the room in mute and slipped on his shoes by the front door, grabbing a pocket knife he'd been given long ago before leaving without a second thought. Lea was determined to at least try to find his best friend, and failure wasn't an option.


	3. Place, Unfamiliar

The clanks of metal and glass pulled Isa from his slumber as if he were being pulled from the darkness to breathe, finally mentally having control of his body yet again. His ears rang for the first few seconds of waking and the cold took over, faint sounds of somebody's voice leading him to flicker his eyes open only to immediately close them. The room shone bright to his sensitive sleepy eyes and it left him wincing, he wanted to reach to rub his eyes but the restraints around his wrists left him frustrated. 

It took him a moment to realize that he was also bare chested, acknowledging that his skin stuck to the surface below him. Not to mention he also noticed he was nearly nude, below being covered merely by a small towel. This made the poor boy pull at the restraints in slight concern, but the pain of his wounds distracted him and soon made him stop. 

Suddenly, the mumbling voice spoke up clearly, saying, "Ah, I see the specimen is awake." 

Isa's head turned and with one eye barely open he saw a man fixed with long blond hair that was busy with their back turned, gathering materials scattered about the counter tops for whatever work he was up to. Isa opened mouth to question this situation but only looked down to notice his bandages. 

"Specimen?" He asked, taking only partial offense to the sudden name. 

"Don't take it so harshly, now sit still." The other continued, now approaching the blunette with a stack of supplies in his hands. 

The wounds on his body were cleaned with caution whilst the teen was unconscious, Isa taking note of this when seeing bloodied rags on the table beside him. 

"Wha-?... What happened? Where am I?" His voice wavered with confusion, he couldn't recall where he was or if he's ever been there before. He knew this was most definitely not the village's infirmary but perhaps one in the next town over? 

"Relax child, Your questions will be answered shortly. For now, shut your mouth and sit still." The man repeated, cold hands smoothed a gauze pad over the teen's chest and lower legs, then proceeding to be wrapped by fresh bandages to complete his medical care. 

Isa remained silent and laid his head back calmly, stings of his wounds being treated not effecting him at this point. 

The room was entered with the sound of steady boot steps, the dirty blond man stopping what he was doing to turn and greet, head bowing with respect when he murmured the words, "Greetings, Superior."

Isa sat his head up and looked, meeting with that of an intimidating silverette's amber gaze. 

He too, bowed his head as a hello to the doctor while proceeding to approach the young man with a smile spreading across his lips. 

"Hello, How are you feeling?" The Superior humbly asked, hands gently resting on the medical table as his eyes trailed along the younger one's bandaged wounds. 

"I hope Vexen took care of you well." The blonds eyes shifted to what his Master said, earning his attention by saying his name.  
Vexen's eyes narrowed and he continued to what he'd been doing before, scribbling inside of a book with an ink-pricked feather.

"I-... I feel fine I guess." Isa mumbled, "Where am I?" he asked softly, the presence left the blunette scared and intimidated, but his smile made a sense of false security was over him. 

"Why, you're at the Skellmon's home base... You were brought here for treatment of those wounds of yours. Not to mention, you're also here for very necessary research." He spoke up calm and collected, Isa took note on his deep voice and shuddered once he spoke up about so called 'necessary research'.

"Research?" He shakily clenched his fists. "But sir... Why? I need to go home. My father must be worried-" 

"Now, now, let's calm down..." The silverette shushed him with a light touch to his lips. 

"Your father is well off on his own, we will ensure he gets the news. But do please understand," Amber eyes narrowed in the sight of the teenager as he spoke with a different tone.  
"You are very dangerous. Much so, that I will be keeping custody of you."

Isa's muscles tensed from his last comment, sharing a displeased glare with the Superior when thinking the large figure was joking. "You must be kidding me..."

"And why would I? I'm sure you're well aware of the thing that attacked you, after all... That was what brought you into this mess." Isa attempted to sit up from his restraints but failed when pulled them no looser than how they were, remaining laid down on the medical table miserably.   
The silverette undid the restraints with the doctor's approval, continuing with his eyes never leaving Isa's. 

"Your body was found just outside Trustonworthe's crops, carried and mauled by Jacob Fisher, a werewolf." 

Isa sat up with his hand cupped around his wrist, rubbing the irritated imprint made by the straps of the table that kept him still for so long. He remained silent all until the strange man mentioned that of a creature being a werewolf, his brows furrowed and he glared at him, asking with attitude in his tone.   
"How would you know?"

Back talking of the doctor in the room was silenced by his Master and the smile returned yet again to the silverettes lips and he happily answered. 

"My dear boy... I'm what you call a monster hunter, it's what I do for a living. I, Xemnas Skellmon study and experiment on the creatures humans have feared for centuries. Including that of lycanthropy, and you're quite the special case." Xemnas introduced proudly, continuing when no interruptions were spoken by the young male. 

"Those wounds there were infected by the wolves saliva, and it stayed that way for a couple hours... That's more than enough time for the infection to spread throughout your bloodstream and rip away what humanity you had in you." He promptly pointed to the teenager's chest.

"Your father will be consulted, you'll be dead to your former family and brought into a new one."

Isa's glare wasn't enough to express his confusion and pent up frustration, questioning was possibly the right thing to do now but he kept himself in thought. He glimpsed over the bandaged wounds over his body and huffed, maybe it was possible... After all, the creature really did look like it was a werewolf from what the teen saw for that short while of actually studying it. Though he was too busy with trying to get away to truly confirm it. 

Isa wasn't sure of how well he could trust this, 'Xemnas Skellmon' but believed he was in the castle of the Skellmon family, the last name didn't ring a bell when said aloud. But realization hit when he remembered the stories he'd hear as a kid, demon hunters that prowled the night searching for those to drag back to hell with them. 

The strangers amber irises made the teen think of it so suddenly after having the courage to look him in the eyes. He opened his mouth to ask one of his still many remaining questions, "...What's going to happen to me?" 

Xemnas had walked away a couple steps to give Isa a well needed glass of water, noticing how hoarse his voice has gotten. He calmly answered once setting the glass on the table and standing beside him. 

"Transformation. You have approximately two days until it happens, though you may experience changes in your agility and even apetite. What I want you to do," The silverette paused and stepped across the room again to retrieve something, he mistakenly searched the room for a moment until Vexen came up with a small journal in hand.   
"I believe you're looking for this." He said softly until turning away and proceeding to what he was doing. Xemnas smiled slightly and handed the book to Isa, him taking it with uneasy hands and flipping through it's blank pages. He gazed up at the Superior once he continued what he was saying, 

"I want you to record any changes, any changes at all. Whether it be physical or mental. This is vital and I'm trusting you to record often... And have it be descriptive." 

Isa stared down and nodded slightly to show to the other that he was listening, but remained silent in hopes it would get them somewhere.   
Instead, the man only gave a deep chuckle, "You don't object much, which is useful to me." 

"Do I even have any say in this? Are you going to treat me like a slave?" A small growl was heard in the blunette's voice, possibly from the ridiculous comment made from the hunter in the room. 

An amused grin was crossed along his lips, answering with a wavering tone that left Isa irritated more than before. 

"I have no need for slaves, though I do need a footman to accompany me." A hand was diligently set on the man's chin, him cocking his head and humming in thought. 

"No, I don't believe you do have any say in this. But staying here will be worth your time." With those words, he turned away and went to leave the room. 

"Another should be here shortly to show you around, for now drink up and listen to Dr. Vexen for instructions on how to affix your bandages when necessary." He gestured to the blond and took his leave, leaving Isa there in suffocating silence to recall exactly what just happened.


End file.
